Cape Town clinician Dr Barry Smith was recently honoured for his role in combatting the Covid-19 pandemic.
Smith has played a significant role in the management of the CTICC Hospital of Hope where he was responsible for clinical management and later opened and managed the Brackengate Hospital of Hope as the chief executive officer in July 2020.
He received the Silver Award in the category Best Doctor of the Year at the national Batho Pele Excellence Awards.
Like many healthcare leaders, Smith showed unwavering dedication to fight Covid-19 and to save lives.
In March 2020 preparations were being done for the re-configuration of services in response to the pandemic.
Towards the end of April 2020, a team of people were pulled together to operationalise the field hospital project which included the CTICC Hospital of Hope and Brackengate intermediate care facility.
He further played a key role as the medical manager at the Karl Bremer Hospital during the second wave of Covid-19 in December 2020, a period when the hospital transformed ordinary wards into Covid-19 wards to save lives.
Smith describes his work during the pandemic as one of the most meaningful contributions he’s made to public healthcare.
“Being able to provide leadership to the teams I work with and doing my best on a daily basis to create an enabling working environment that leads to quality healthcare services of high public value, has the most meaning to me. Some of the highlights of my career have been my involvement in the Swartland Hospital fire disaster response and recovery and the contribution to the Covid-19 response at Karl Bremer Hospital and the Covid-19 intermediate care facilities.”
Being a manager during the pandemic did not come without challenges. “Working in the healthcare services comes with a high degree of uncertainty and unpredictability, mainly because this is a business about people. Dealing with such complexity forces you to value your team members and to encourage teamwork and it requires an ongoing openness to learning and improving in order to meet the healthcare demands of the communities we serve. Although it is very encouraging to receive such an award, I don’t see it as something one can actively pursue. Being recognised for work that originates from a personal sense of purpose and passion is a bonus because this is where the true reward lies.”
As a young medical student at Stellenbosch University, his desire was to save lives and to improve healthcare in our country.
“I have always been fascinated by the natural sciences and I am energised by interacting with people. I saw medicine as the perfect field where humanity and science meet when I studied MBChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) at Stellenbosch University.”
His passion for making a difference continues to drive him and now Smith and his team take on pressures in the Karl Bremer Hospital Emergency Centre (EC). The hospital is often under severe pressure due to an influx of people accessing healthcare via the Emergency Centre. Residents experiencing minor ailments have been encouraged to first access healthcare from their nearest primary healthcare facility to reduce pressure on the EC.
“The pressure in the Emergency Centre is usually a good gauge of what is happening in the community. We saw this clearly with the various Covid-19 waves and levels of lockdown restrictions. Substance abuse remains the highest contributing factor to the extremely high mental health burden we deal with. Currently, we are experiencing a rise in patients with complicated diseases, likely following the impact Covid-19 had on patients’ healthcare seeking behaviour and access to services. Under such conditions, it is essential to identify and prioritise those patients who need true emergency and urgent care at hospital level. We stretch every resource we have and work as efficiently as possible to meet the demand at the hospital, but it is essential that all the contributing factors on every level of the health system and in the community are addressed simultaneously.”
Smith says his journey to becoming a leader in healthcare was made possible through support from his loved ones and colleagues.
“I owe this award to my family that has been my biggest support and who have kept me grounded in all my undertakings. The remarkable team I work with has inspired me in so many ways through their selfless commitment, caring attitude and competence. I am thankful for the many extraordinary role models in my career that have demonstrated compassionate leadership towards me, who have trusted me enough to live out my potential and supported me whether I succeeded or failed.”
Last year, Smith received the prestigious gold award for exemplary leadership at the annual Western Cape Government Service Excellence Awards. Karl Bremer Hospital CEO Jonathan Lucas has praised the medical manager for his dedication and passion to delivering excellent healthcare.
“On behalf of Karl Bremer Hospital, we want to congratulate Dr Smith on this special achievement following his national award. Having been recognised at a national level for a job well done mirrors his work ethics and his desire for excellence both as a manager and a clinician.”
